’67 Golden Country Classic
The images in this month’s Vintage Vaults were shot for Hot Rod by Bud Lang in 1967 at the Third Annual Jeepers Golden Country Classic from Georgetown, California. We came across the photos in our archives of an event near the hallowed Rubicon Trail and had to share them. We don’t have lots of information on the event or the participants, but they look like they are out having fun in their Jeeps. We like that. Here we see an early CJ wearing Goodyear Xtra Trac Terra Tires tucked under tastefully trimmed front fenders. The CJ seems to be civilian with a welded battery box cover and normal headlight buckets. Interestingly, the grille does have hinges mounted on the bottom like a military Jeep. Also visible are coilover helper shocks, and check out that strange front crossmember. The Jeep also appears to have an axle-mounted bellcrank steering.

Flattie on Course
It’s hard to say if this flattie is military or civilian, but we are pretty sure there is no tailgate in the tailgate opening behind the driver hinting at a civilian flattie. Our keen eye can also see the silhouette of a CJ-2A passenger front fender meaning it’s prolly a CJ-2A. Check out those tuck ’n’ roll bucket seats. Nice! Jeepers with a sharp eye will also see the manual steering box mounted on the front of the frame-rail. How about the custom passenger-side gas tank indicated by the filler neck? That ain’t stock. Other hard-to-spot customizations on this Jeep include what we guess is a column mounted tachometer or other gauge and coilover helper shocks. Photo by Bud Lang.

Haulin’ High Hood
Here is one fast-moving CJ-3B captured by Bud Lang as it’s being laid into a corner at speed. Let’s hope and assume that left front tire somehow stayed on the bead, and the guy made the corner. We spy some early Warn locking hubs, what is probably a Belleview winch sunk down into the bumper, and a steering column swap. Also check out that dubious rollbar. It’s better than nothing, we suppose. Those parking lamps are not factory, and we doubt that nice plush-looking 50-50 bench seat is either. We are definitely digging this old school high hood.